Fandom High School

Summer had sent out an e-mail to all of her students. She'd also put a note on her office door, just to be safe.

Class is canceled today. Please stay safe and if you can help it, stay inside. And if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to contact me. - Summer

She decided to wait in her classroom for a bit, in case any of her students had somehow missed the e-mail and showed up for class.

Summer waited for everyone to settle down before beginning her lecture.

"The CSS Texas (Confederate States Ship Texas), was a twin propeller casement ironclad ram of the Confederate Navy, named for the state of Texas. She was 217-feet long and launched at Richmond, Virginia, in January 1865. Since the ship was built so late in the American Civil War, it saw no action before being captured by Union forces," she explained, passing around a brief summary of the Civil War and background on the CSS Texas.

"At the time of Robert E. Lee's evacuation of Richmond on 3 April 1865, the CSS Texas was left unfinished but intact in an outfitting berth at the Richmond Navy Yard, one of only two vessels which escaped destruction by the departing Confederate forces. Captured when the city fell the following day, the ironclad was taken into the United States Navy, but saw no service. Texas was laid up at Norfolk until 15 October 1867 when she was sold to J.N. Leonard & Co. of New Haven, Connecticut."

Summer switched on the projector, to show a layout of the ship. It was quite a piece of machinery, at that.

"Not much is known about the CSS Texas after she was sold. I can only assume that she was either sold again or eventually, scrapped for parts, seeing as she saw no wartime action." It was something worth researching further.

[OCD a go!]

Upon entering, the students would find Summer positioned behind a projector at the back of the classroom and a picture displayed on the board in front. They'd also find leftover Halloween candy on their desks, and were welcome to take it or leave it. Summer had more than enough to go around.

She waited for for her students to get settled before she started the day's lecture.

"When John Ericsson conceived his 'impregnable battery', he had no idea that it would still be fighting battles a hundred years after his death. In the mid nineteenth century he struggled to have his concepts approved by distinguished industrialists mired in the past. But then came the War between the States, and with war always comes technological advancement and the adoption of previously unacceptable innovations," Summer began. "Word arrived in Washington that the South was building an ironclad ram that could destroy the Union fleet single-handedly. Unwittingly, the CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) provided the impetus to goad reluctant Northern politicians into funding the construction of an ironclad opponent. Thus the Monitor came into being."

Summer paused, switching to another picture before continuing with her lecture.

"Then came the battle that forever changed the way naval strategists viewed warship design and ship-to-ship engagement. The Monitor and the Virginia fought to a standstill, neither ship inflicting significant damage upon the other. Each was invulnerable to the other and to land-based batteries. Nevertheless, by the end of that year (1862) both ironclads were gone: the Virginia was blown up by her crew to prevent capture, the Monitor foundered in a gale off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina."

"She was highly unseaworthy in rough waters, hence her sinking during a gale. Sixteen of her sixty-two crewmen were lost. She was re-discovered in 1973 and her wreck site was designated as the first U.S. Marine sanctuary. There are a total of only thirteen to this day."

[Wait for the OCD Have at it!]

[Syllabus | Class Roster]

The students would find themselves back in the classroom for today's lesson.

Summer sat on the desk in the front of the room and waited for everyone to get settled before she began her lecture.

"The sinking of the Belgrano warship is one of the most dramatic and controversial events of the Falklands War. The Falklands War was fought in 1982, between Argentina and the United Kingdom. over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The islands are located east of Argentina, in the South Atlantic Ocean," she explained. "The war began in April of 1982. On May 2, HMS Conqueror, the British nuclear submarine, fired two torpedoes at the Argentine warship, ARA General Belgrano. The British attempted to retake the the islands with a naval task force and by amphibious assault. Some 300 men were killed on impact, due to the attack. As the formidable Argentinian warship began to sink, one of the most difficult marine rescue operations ever was conducted. The torpedo strike killed 323 of the Belgrano's 1093 crew, nearly half of Argentina's total war casualties."

Summer paused, letting her students process that information.

"The conflict ended on June 14, 1982 and the islands remained under British control. The war lasted a total of seventy-four days and resulted in the deaths of 257 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors and airmen. Three civilian Falklanders also lost their lives in the assault."

It was an unfortunate side effect of war. It was one of the reasons Summer disliked conflict.

"The area where the Belgrano sank is classified as a War Grave under Argentinian law. In 1994, the Argentine government conceded that the sinking of the Belgrano was "a legal act of war". In 1999, Sir Michael Boyce, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, visited the Puerto Belgrano naval base and paid tribute to those who died," she added. "In February 2003 the National Geographic Society, in conjunction with the Argentine navy, launched an expedition to scour the depths of the South Atlantic for the wreck. After nearly two weeks at sea, in extreme Southern Ocean weather conditions, the expedition was unable to find the ship. Despite the fact the cruiser is thought to be 4km underwater, 180km off the coast of Argentina and in notoriously rough seas, the team hoped its equipment — the same used to locate the Titanic — would quickly find the wreck. Sadly, the wreck still remains undiscovered to this day."

[Wait for the OCD's a go!]

Today they were back in the classroom and thankfully, it was unicorn free. Summer stood at the front of the room, a picture projected onto the board behind her.

"The Mary Rose was built between 1509 and 1511 and was a favorite of King Henry VIII. It was a a carrack-type warship and for over thirty-three years, had served in several wars until 1545. On July 19, 1545, while leading the attack on the galleys of a French invasion fleet, she sank in the Solent -- the straits north of the Isle of Wight," Summer explained. "The Mary Rose was caught in a squall of wind and quickly capsized, water pouring into the lower gun ports. She was equipped with more than ninety guns on her decks and it was most likely her crew consisted of at least seven hundred members. Unfortunately, fewer than forty crewmen were thought to have survived."

It was a tragedy and an accidental one at that.

"The Mary Rose was one of the first ships to fire a broadside and was described as 'the fairest flower of all the ships ever sailed.' The Mary Rose marked the transition between the medieval 'floating castles' and the galleons of Elizabeth I's navy."

"Salvage work was started the same year in an attempt to save what they could of the Mary Rose. They ended up raising some guns, yards and sails but they had to stop five years later because the ship had partially settled into the silt. Oddly enough, that same silt would preserve her for future generations to come. In 1971, the wreck was rediscovered and salvaged in 1982. The excavation was a milestone in the field of maritime archaeology."

"In 1982, an estimated 60 million people watched the live recovery of the Mary Rose on television," Summer continued, wishing she could have witnessed that firsthand. "The remains of the hull have been on display at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. An extensive collection of well-preserved artifacts is on display at the nearby Mary Rose Museum." Summer would get there one day.

"Several theories have sought to explain the demise of the Mary Rose, based on historical records, knowledge of 16th-century shipbuilding and modern experiments. However, the precise cause of her sinking is still unclear, because of conflicting testimonies and a lack of conclusive physical evidence. I'd like to know if you have any theories as to why a squall of wind took down the Mary Rose so easily."

[OCD's a go!]

[Syllabus | Class Roster]